Rail Nightclaw
Rough in speech and extremely animated, Rail Nightclaw rarely lets an opinion go unvoiced. In particular, she's exceedingly critical of criminals, having even gotten her nickname for keeping people "on-the-rails" -- on a straight and narrow path. However, she is tirelessly devoted to those she cares about, willing to compromise even her own morals regarding illegal activities if it means helping her loved ones. Background On account of Scar Nightclaw's children having a massive disparity in ages, Rail is just a few years younger than several of her uncles (much to her shock when she found out). Her father is Jag Nightclaw, one of Scar's older children; however, according to Rail, she didn't have a good relationship with neither him nor her mother, Peak Proca. At some point, she came to own her own bar called Rail's Tree, so-named for how the building was much taller and narrower than those surrounding it. She also became romantically involved with and subsequently engaged to Whist Jueneros. Second Dream of Arplakoon Interim: The Broker's Downfall Rail first met Silver Nightclaw when he followed a cryptic note to her bar. At first, she mistook him for one of Scar's underlings and was hostile towards him, even grabbing him by the collar and shouting in his face. When he explained that he had no affiliation with "the Broker" and that he and his brothers "got mistaken" for such people quite often, Rail sheepishly apologized for her behavior. She offered him a free drink to compensate for her rashness, though Silver declined the offer for alcohol and asked for water instead. Though scornful of the request, Rail nonetheless complied. Although Rail had no idea why the note Silver found would lead him to her, as she had no idea what to make of his search for his long-lost mother, Silver eventually revealed that although he wasn't involved in the shady business that Scar was up to, he was, in fact one of his sons. Much to Silver's shock, Rail in turn revealed that she was one of Scar's grandchildren -- the daughter of Jag Nightclaw''.'' The two found their circumstances quite similar; Silver, though committed to finding the truth and putting a stop to whatever Scar was up to, was fearful of how his actions might reflect back on other people Scar might target, particularly his boyfriend, Mono. Similarly, Rail was worried for her fiancée who had been cut off from her medication by her doctor; desperate to help, Rail took on Scar's sketchy offer of a "special deal". However, Rail had backed out before getting too deep in the deal, and now was being harassed by Scar's lackeys, getting increasingly more worried that her fiancée might find out what had happened or, even worse, could become one of Scar's targets. Eager to get revenge on Scar and to protect her fiancée, Rail agreed to help Silver find out what had happened to his mother and dig up enough evidence that could put Scar behind bars for good. Figuring that the person who left the note for Silver must have had some reason for directing him there, the two decided to look for clues that someone may have left behind in the bar. After Silver looked through the bar's security footage and found a note like the first one on the bottom of a shipment box from Scrapyard, the two deduced that the note was trying to lead them to God's Land in search of Silver's mother. The note's contents indicated Scrapyard, and the box would have had to go through God's Land to reach them in Reydrid. While in the office, Silver had seen a framed photo of Rail and Whist, whom he had run into earlier but had not realized until then that Whist was Rail's fiancée. Rail insisted on knowing how Whist had behaved around Silver, and she was distraught to hear that the symptoms of her schizophrenia were apparently worsening. Rail hadn't recently seen Whist (and had been hoping Whist would visit her at work as she often did on her own) because she decided that Whist needed space, but while Whist had encountered Silver, she had mumbled something about how a "she" wouldn't want to see her. Worried that Whist had been referring to Rail, the two set out to find her. Judging by the direction Whist had gone in, Rail thought the only logical destination would be where Whist's parents lived. On their way there, Rail and Silver discussed varying aspects of their lives, particularly Rail and Whist's relationship with the latter's parents. They had once doted on the two of them, treating Rail "like family" even when she and Whist had only just started dating, but the onset of Whist's schizophrenia eventually resulted in the doctor intervening and deeming Whist's parents to be a bad influence on her mental health. Although Rail despised them for what they had done to Whist -- the damage having been to the point where years later, Whist still repeated some of the things they had said to her -- she still felt conflicted about the people they used to be and confused about how they seemingly changed overnight. Rail's conflicted feelings gave way to just frustration when the two met Ticker Jueneros, however. Furious with how he refused to help them at first, Rail argued with him, and Ticker was mostly obstinate, insisting that Whist would have been better staying with her family and that Rail's previous "intervention" had led to the current situation. Silver was able to convince Ticker to speak more on if he had seen Whist -- apparently, Whist had left a letter while Ticker was out. The letter gave them enough detail to piece together that Whist had likely left for God's Land, specifically the cultists who would match the description of "people who hear voices" as Whist did. Though Rail had a lapse in hope on reading the desperation in Whist's letter, she redoubled her determination to find Whist and bring her home. After some investigation and finding a new companion in Jaltur Ironhide, Rail found out that Whist had gone off to God's Land shortly before they arrived in Otera ne Díserno, a city in northern Moncieja. They made their way to a checkpoint there and found out that Whist had collapsed there sometime before they got there. Rail was torn between staying behind with Whist, who was still unconscious from the heat exhaustion, and going with Silver to finish their business with Scar. Instead, she asked if they could wait around until Whist woke up on her own. Silver answered that they could rest there, much to Rail's gratitude. Category:Characters Category:Ealdremen Non-Player Characters